Hi there. I am hoping someone can answer a question for me. I have a cat who is about 7 months old. I just adopted an older cat from the SPCA a week ago. The two of them get along great for the most part. For a couple of days now I have noticed that my original kitty makes a gagging face whenever he wakes up. There is no hairball that he upchucks nor does he get rid of anything else out of his system when he makes this gagging face. I have been slowly changing him to adult food because he keeps eating the new cat's food when I put it out anyway, so I was thinking that this could be a digestive issue. I feed them a premium food and have been mixing the food so as to not hurt his stomach. For the most part his behavior has not changed that I can tell. He also snores quite loudly when sleeping. I was maybe concerned that the new kitty hurt him while playing/wrestling. Can someone give me insight as to what this could be?

The gagging when waking up and the snoring may or may not be related. If there is some inflammation of the sinus (sinusitis) then sometimes the drainage can drip down the pack of the throat and lead to some gagging when waking up. Otherwise there may be a secondary gastrointestinal inflammation as you had thought.

If your veterinarian is not concerned about infection and is just siting 'congestion' then she or he may be thinking of dust or allergies. An Hepa air filter may be beneficial as well as either a humidifier or keeping the cat in the bathroom while you shower. Humidity can help clear the sinus cavity.

If these are not working, then perhaps talking to your veterinarian more may help. Your vet may want to try a course of antihistamines if allergies is still of a concern.